Recycling/green movement

[starlucia]

When I lived in the big city, I used to make it easier for cartoneros + protecting anything that could hurt them and writing big warnings on them (broken glass, whatever).

Ah, yes, that's a big one. Cartoneros (sometimes children) are working in the dark, shoving their hands into bags without looking first. A sliver of broken glass could mean a serious injury. We dispose of any broken or chipped glass separately, by wrapping it securely in newspaper and labeling it with a big "CUIDADO, VIDRIOS!"

 

[Gringoboy]

We live near the Rio Reconquista, Tigre and the various canals that intersect.
At low water, not only is the smell quite heinous, but the flotsam and jetsam is astounding.
I've never seen so many plastic bottles and other man made shit on the river banks.
It wouldn't take too many brain cells for the local municipio to attack these areas at low water and clean the place up...Sergio Massa, yes you!
So much $$$ is spent on fancy street lights and security cameras, but very little on the consequences of our throw away society.

 

[LaurenW]

Thanks for all the replies. Insightful.

Still, does anyone know who pays the cartoneros for this stuff? Most likely manufacturing plants that need the raw goods?

Also anyone have any clue about any environmental awareness groups? I know it isn't the top priority with many other more pressing issues facing the population, but still, I'm curious.
thanks

 

[Bajo_cero2]

Cartonerons meet in some places where there is a truck who buys their stuff. Viamonte and Talcahuano, Rodriguez Peña one block before Corboba, etc. They make about 25 pesos a day.

I think that Garbage is not such a big issue here as it is in the states because we dont produce so much waste. Regards

 

[citygirl]

I think that Garbage is not such a big issue here as it is in the states because we dont produce so much waste. Regards

Really - I'm not so sure about that. I see HUGE amounts of waste being produced. All the plastic packaging, plastic bags, etc. Granted, coming from NYC where just about everything under the sun is recycled, it was a shock for me here to see the utter lack of caring and people just throwing trash out on the street.

I used to separate my trash into bags and tape a note on them with the contents. Glass or plastic bottles went in one, food debris went in another and paper products, etc in a different one. I'm sure the super just threw them all in one big bag but at least it seemed to be something to make things easier.

Where I live now, there is no municipal garbage pick-up. So people literally dump bags and bags and bags of trash on abandoned lots. It's awful.

 

[syngirl]

I think that Garbage is not such a big issue here as it is in the states because we dont produce so much waste. Regards

Yes and no. For the time being Argentina isn't churning out the same level of techno-garbage (ie not as many people own ipods / dvds / laptops / cameras etc that they toss every 6-12 mos when they upgrade to the next model), but the garbage that is produced doesn't necessarily go through the same amount of sorting, recycling, management of toxic waste as you get in the states. So everything tends to go right into the dump, batteries, chemicals, glass, plastics, cell phones etc. There's got to be a lot of toxicity leakage. People here aren't as big consumers as in the USA, but the garbage treatment processes also aren't up to par.

 

[waldo_jeffers]

I think that Garbage is not such a big issue here as it is in the states because we dont produce so much waste. Regards

Really? The encargado of my building takes out several sacks of garbage *daily*, most of it ends up in the corner of the street, piling up.

This IS an issue here.

On a brighter side, I have been sorting my waste as I would back home and dropping it in the containers set up in the plaza near my place.

I see people smiling when I do it. Not sure why though.

 

[Gringoboy]

Yesterday, on my motorbike going home from work a car sped past and chucked a beer bottle out, narrowly missing my head.
Many people treat the streets as dustbins, unfortunately.

 

[jayjane]

Really? The encargado of my building takes out several sacks of garbage *daily*, most of it ends up in the corner of the street, piling up.


Are you sure he isn´t just doing this to make it seem like he does a great job? I notice that the encargados sometimes throw out the bags long before they are actually full of trash. Sometimes several times a day. I never understand this.

I do think there is less waste here than in the U.S. We just consume so much more and in the U.S. I used to buy a lot of already packaged meals-Trader Joe´s sushi, salads, etc. I have to cook here. In BA I have a very small sized trash (the size of a bathroom trashcan) in the kitchen that I throw out maybe 2 a week. That´s nothing compared to the heaps of trash we threw out in the U.S. I do try to keep the plastic to a minimum though by bringing my own bag around when I can.

 

[waldo_jeffers]

Are you sure he isn´t just doing this to make it seem like he does a great job? I notice that the encargados sometimes throw out the bags long before they are actually full of trash. Sometimes several times a day. I never understand this.

No, I live in a fairly new tower and the administrator is a pain. He can only get the trash out at 8 pm every day.

And following on the rest of your comment, yes I do agree on what you say. My trashcan is the size of my bathroom paper bin back home.